4.
Mediterranean diet rules <ul><li>In the Mediterranean diet the most important source of animal food is fish. The Mediterranean is a sea which is rich in fish, and to do things the “mediterranean way” we need to eat seafood frequently : </li></ul><ul><li>seafood (fish, shellfish, mollusc), recommended 4-6 times a week, at least twice weekly </li></ul>

5.
Seafood Seafood: D escribes, collectively, fish and other aquatic animals such as crustaceans and molluscs. Fish: Aquatic vertebrates having gills, fins and typically an elongated body usually covered with scales. Crustaceans: A large family of arthropod animals, characterised by a hard, close-fitting shell that is shed periodically. Includes crabs, lobsters shrimps. Molluscs: Invertebrates characterised by a soft unsegmented body with a calcareous shell (clams, mussels,oyster) or without (squid,octopus,cuttlefish).

7.
Health benefits fish consumption In the last decade it has been observed that the consumption of two or more servings of fish per week is associated with a lower prevalence of heart disease . Beneficial effects of seafood consumption have also been reported for other diseases or conditions. These benefits have been linked to the long-chain, highly poly-unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids , eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are found in seafood. This has further highlighted the possibility of additional health benefits associated with eating fish.

8.
Seafood is high in beneficial fats Humans can manufacture some types of fatty acids in the body, but must obtain those essential for good health (the poly-unsaturated omega-3 and omega-6) from diet. Omega-3 fats are best found in fish (walnut, flaxseed) Omega-6 fats are also found in seafood of all kinds: crustaceans, molluscs, shellfish and, to a variable extent, fish. Regular seafood intake plays an important role in allowing a healthy ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. Food plants alone may not provide enough essential fatty acids , especially long-chain omega-3 fats. These are best obtained from seafood.

10.
Don’t overlook small oily fish Wild fish are among the healthiest things you can eat, yet many wild fish stocks are on the verge of collapse because of overfishing. Avoid big fish at the top of the food chain – tuna, swordfish, shark – because they’re endangered, and because they often contain high levels of mercury . Fortunately, a few of the most nutritious wild fish species, including mackerel, sardines and anchovies , are well managed, and in some cases are even abundant. Those oily little fish are particularly good choices . According to a Dutch proverb, “A land with lots of herring can get along with few doctors”.

11.
Seafood and Selenium Selenium is now recognised as an essential element for humans; it plays a major role in the enzymes that make up part of the body’s antioxidant defence and other systems. It helps to prevent DNA damage caused by various chemicals and radiation. Dietary deficiency of selenium has not been demonstrated in humans — although animals on a deficient diet develop a number of symptoms including retarded growth, muscular dystrophy and necrosis of the heart, kidney and liver. Seafood can be a useful source of dietary selenium . In the Usa, low levels of selenium in soils make this an important factor.

12.
Seafood and Co-Enzyme Q10 Seafood is one of the good sources of C-Enz.Q10. Although more than 40 years ago C-Enz.Q10 was known to function as an anti-oxidant at the sub-cellular level , it has only recently received attention in relation to its food sources. C-Enz.Q10 concentrations rise under the influence of oxidative stress (e.g.physical exercise) and in degenerative conditions of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s disease, whereas it is reported that its concentrations drop in several diseases, including degenerative muscle diseases and liver carcinomas . Although C-Enz.Q10 can be synthesised in the body, additional intake from food is required.

13.
Seafood and Taurine Seafood contains a large amount of taurine. This amino acid is known for its role in the formation and excretion of bile salts, which are the breakdown products of cholesterol. It also plays a role in the function of the neonatal retina and in cognitive function

14.
Which is better — fish or fish oil supplements? On the basis of omega-3 fatty acid content, fish oil is an attractive commodity, because it has a higher concentration of these than the whole fish. Fish oil can be a useful option for people who are unable to eat seafood, or who cannot eat it in quantities sufficient for their health needs. For example, to achieve the required effects of omega-3 fatty acids, some people may need to have the equivalent of 2–3 servings (at 100 grams per serving) of fish a day, or about 6–9 grams of fish fat per day (an average fish has about 3 grams fat per 100 grams).

15.
Which is better — fish or fish oil supplements? Such effects may be to reduce the concentration of blood triglyceride (a blood fat), decrease the risk of an abnormal heart rhythm or perhaps correct a mood disorder (depression). Fish oil may achieve these effects much more conveniently than eating fish. However, some health effects of fish are not seen with fish oil.

16.
Which is better, fish or fish oil supplements? Reduction of high blood pressure is an example; this is thought to be due to the relatively higher proportion of DHA to EPA in fish compared with that in fish oils. Again, factors from the flesh (muscle) of fish, other than fatty acids — such as protein and its amino acid content, micronutrients, or C.E Q10 — may be important to health. In fish there are also factors that are anti-oxidants, which protect the poly-unsaturated fatty acids from oxidation — whether before or after ingestion. These may not be as well represented in fish oil, although this can be addressed during processing .

17.
Which is better — fish or fish oil supplements? On the whole, it can be said that seafood in general is to be preferred to fish oil, but where larger amounts of omega-3 fatty acids are needed and fish intake is a problem, fish oil can play a valuable health role.

19.
Healthy ways to cook seafood Cooking seafood with various herbs could also be beneficial to health, for ex., supplementing seafood with garlic can significantly lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Spices and herbs are normally anti-oxidants as well . They can also help to preserve the essential fatty acid value of seafood and reduce the formation of potentially harmful chemicals such as heterocyclic amines (derivates of amino acids in proteins) if seafood is over-cooked . Fish do not lose their positive health benefits by being canned; in olive or canola oil they bring with them the health benefits of these oils; canned in brine or spring water, there are less calories.

25.
WHAT ARE YOU EATING? <ul><li>yogurt is the turkish word for milk that has been fermented into a semisolid mass, it comes from a root meaning “ THICK ” </li></ul><ul><li>the same product has been made for millennia from eastern Europe to India </li></ul><ul><li>It’s eaten on its own, diluted into drinks, mixed into dressings and used as an ingredient in soup, baked goods and sweets </li></ul><ul><li>The bacteria cultures consume much of the lactose or milk sugar found in milk, which is why even people who are lactose intolerant can often eat yogurt with no problem </li></ul><ul><li>Yogurt is a great source of bone-building calcium </li></ul>

26.
<ul><li>Its real strength lies in live beneficial bacteria , known as probiotics, that keep down the growth of harmful bacteria in your gut </li></ul><ul><li>Too many bad bacteria can lead to gastrointestinal and other health problems </li></ul><ul><li>Eating more yogurt could help with inflammatory bowel disease, ulcers, urinary tract infections and vaginal yeast infections, to name a few conditions </li></ul><ul><li>Getting plenty of good bacteria from yogurt is particularly important when you take antibiotics </li></ul><ul><li>Probiotics also produce immunitary- enhancing compounds and natural antibiotics that help reduce levels of nasty bacteria in the gut </li></ul>

27.
The symbiosis of yogurt <ul><li>Traditional yogurt is complex. The industrial version however, contains just 2 kinds of bacteria “ LACTOBACILLUS DELBRUECKII subspecies BULGARICUS and STREPTOCOCCUS SALIVARIUS subspecies THERMOPHILUS ” </li></ul><ul><li>Each bacterium stimulates the growth of the other and the combination acidifies the milk more rapidly than either partner on its own </li></ul>

28.
MAKING YOGURT (THERE ARE 2 BASIC STAGES IN YOGURT MAKING) <ul><li>Preparing the milk by heating and partly cooling it </li></ul><ul><li>Traditionally the milk for yogurt was given a prolonged boiling to concentrate the proteins and give a firmer texture </li></ul><ul><li>Today manifacturers can boost protein content by adding dry milk powder but they still cook the milk for 30 minutes at 185°F/85°C or 195°F/ 90°C for 10 minutes </li></ul><ul><li>These treatments improve the consistency of yogurt by denaturing the whey protein LACTOGLOBULIN </li></ul><ul><li>Its otherwise unreactive molecules then participate by clustering on the surfaces of the casein particles </li></ul><ul><li>Fermenting the warm milk </li></ul><ul><li>Temperature has a strong influence on yogurt consistency 104-113° F/ 40-45°C </li></ul><ul><li>The bacteria grow and produce lactic acid rapidly and the milk protein gel in just two or three hours </li></ul><ul><li>Rapid gelling produces a relatively coarse protein network </li></ul><ul><li>Its few thick strands give it firmness but also readily leak whey </li></ul>

29.
Frozen yogurt <ul><li>Frozen yogurt became popular in the 1970 s and ‘80 s as a low-fat “ HEALTHY ” alternative to ice cream. </li></ul><ul><li>Its essentially ice milk whose mix includes a small dose of yogurt (4 to 1) </li></ul><ul><li>Depending on the mixing procedure </li></ul>

31.
Yogurt Recipe A healthy Mediterranean Diet Sauce is “Cacik” “Yogurt and cucumber sauce” (pages 59-60 Mediterranean Diet Cookbook) where the ingredients are yogurt, cucumbers, sea salt, garlic, white wine vinegar, dried mint, red chili pepper and fresh mint leaves. You can use this as a salad or you might serve it as a dip with bread or raw vegetable crudités.

32.
Cheese <ul><li>Italian cheeses embody the evidence of many centuries of thought and experimentation. The most common matured cheeses are: </li></ul><ul><li>Parmigiano Reggiano </li></ul><ul><li>Pecorino </li></ul><ul><li>The most common fresh cheeses are: </li></ul><ul><li>Mozzarella </li></ul><ul><li>Ricotta </li></ul>

33.
Milk and health <ul><li>Milk has long been synonymous of fundamental nutrition </li></ul><ul><li>It’s actually designed to be a food </li></ul><ul><li>It’s a rich source of many essential body-building nutrients like: protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins A and B and calcium </li></ul><ul><li>The balance of nutrients in cow’s milk doesn’t meet the needs of human infants. Most adult humans on the planet can’t digest the milk sugar called LACTOSE . </li></ul><ul><li>The best way to obtain calcium may not be high milk intake </li></ul><ul><li>Milk was designed to be a food for the young and rapidly growing calf; not for the young or mature human </li></ul>

34.
Milk nutrients <ul><li>Nearly all milks contain the same battery of nutrients, the proportions of which vary greatly from species to species. </li></ul><ul><li>Animals that grow rapidly are fed with milk high in protein and minerals </li></ul><ul><li>Cow’s milk contains more than double the protein and minerals of mother’s milk </li></ul><ul><li>Ruminant milk is seriously lacking only in iron and in vitamin C </li></ul><ul><li>The milk fat of ruminant animals is the most highly saturated of our common foods only coconut oil beats it </li></ul><ul><li>Saturated fat does raise blood cholesterol levels and high blood cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of heart disease but the other foods in a balanced diet can compensate for this disadvantage </li></ul>

36.
Nutrition and allergies <ul><li>BEFORE </li></ul><ul><li>About 20th century </li></ul><ul><li>Nutrition was thought to be a simple matter of protein, calories, vitamins, minerals </li></ul><ul><li>Cow’s milk was a good substitute for mother’s milk infact more than half of all six-month-olds in the united states drank it </li></ul><ul><li>NOW </li></ul><ul><li>The figure is down to less than 10% </li></ul><ul><li>Plain cow’s milk is no longer recommended for children younger than one year </li></ul>

37.
Allergies <ul><li>It provides too much protein and not enough iron and highly unsaturated fats, for the human infant’s needs another disadvantage to the early use of cow’s milk is that it can trigger an allergy </li></ul><ul><li>The infant’s digestive system is not fully formed and can allow some food protein and protein fragments to pass directly into the blood </li></ul><ul><li>These foreign molecules then provoke a defensive response which in the infant who ingests somewhere between 1% and 10% of the abundant protein in cow’s milk </li></ul>

38.
Dealing with lactose <ul><li>Humans are exceptional for consuming milk of any kind after they have started eating solid food. </li></ul><ul><li>The people who drink milk after infancy are the exception within the human species </li></ul><ul><li>The obstacle is the milk sugar lactose , which can’t be absorbed and used by the body as it is, it must first be broken down into its component sugars by digestive enzymes in the small intestine </li></ul><ul><li>The lactose-digesting enzyme, lactase, reaches its maximum levels in the human intestine shortly after birth and then slowly declines, with a steady miniumum level commencing at between 2 and 5 years of age and continuing throughout adulthood </li></ul><ul><li>The logic of this trend is obvious </li></ul>

39.
<ul><li>It’s a waste of its resources for the body to produce an enzyme when it’s no longer needed; and once most mammals are weaned, they never encounter lactose in their food again </li></ul><ul><li>If an adult without much lactase activity does ingest a substantial amount of milk, the lactose passes through the small intestine and reaches the large intestine, where bacteria metabolize it and in the process produce carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane(gas). </li></ul>

40.
Lactose intolerance <ul><li>Low lactase activity and its symptoms are called lactose intolerance </li></ul><ul><li>It turns out that adult lactose intolerance is the rule rather than the exception lactose tolerant adults are a distinct minority on the planet </li></ul><ul><li>Peoples in northen europe and a few other regions underwent a genetic change that allowed them to produce lactase throughout life </li></ul><ul><li>Probably because milk was an exceptionally important resource in colder climates: </li></ul><ul><li>98% of Scandinavians are Lactose- Tolerant </li></ul><ul><li>90% of French and Germans </li></ul><ul><li>40% of Southern Europeans </li></ul><ul><li>30% of North Africans </li></ul><ul><li>30% of African Americans </li></ul><ul><li>Lactose intolerance is not the same as milk intolerance </li></ul><ul><li>Cheese contains little or no lactose </li></ul><ul><li>The bacteria in yogurt generate lactose-digesting enzymes that remain active in the human small intestine and work for us there </li></ul>

41.
Milk has been especially valued for two nutritional characteristics <ul><li>ITS RICHNESS IN CALCIUM </li></ul><ul><li>Tha calcium phosphate acts a hard, mineralized, strenghthening filler </li></ul><ul><li>Dietary of calcium is very important to prevent osteoporosia infat in U.S government panels have recommended that adults consume the equivalent of a quart of milk daily </li></ul><ul><li>BOTH THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF ITS PROTEIN </li></ul><ul><li>Tha protein acts a hard, mineralized, strenghthening filler </li></ul><ul><li>A quart of milk supplies two-thirds of a day’s recommended protein and displace from the diet other foods </li></ul><ul><li>Many women in industrialized countries lose so much bone mass after menopause that thay are at high risk for serius fractures </li></ul>

42.
Protein of milk <ul><li>The major proteins in milk is CASEIN was mainly a nutritional reservoir of amido acids with which the infact builds its own body </li></ul><ul><li>This protein now appears to be a complex subtle orchestrator of the infant’s metabolism </li></ul><ul><li>When it’s digested its long aminoacid chains are first broken down into smaller fragments or peptides </li></ul><ul><li>It turns out that many hormones and drugs are also peptides do affect the body in hormone like ways </li></ul>

43.
The many influences on bone health <ul><li>Good bone health results from a proper balance between the two ongoing processes of bone deconstruction and reconstruction </li></ul><ul><li>This processes depend not only on calcium levels in the body but also on physical activity , hormones and other controlling signals traance nutrients(including:vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium,potassium and zinc) and other as yet unidentified substances. </li></ul><ul><li>DECONSTRUCTIONS: TEA-ONIONS- PARSLEY in this food there appear to be factors that slow bone deconstructions </li></ul><ul><li>RECONSTRUCTION: VITAMIN D is essential for the efficient absorption of calcium from our food and influences bone building; it’s added to milk and other sources include EGGS-FISH AND SHELLFISH </li></ul>

46.
About meat: <ul><li>Mediterranean Diet rules about meat: </li></ul><ul><li>Treat meat as a special occasion food. </li></ul><ul><li>Eating legless animals (fish) is better than eating what stands on two legs (chicken, fowl, turkey), which is better than eating what stands on four legs (cows, pigs and other mammals). </li></ul><ul><li>Eat animals that have themselves eaten well. </li></ul><ul><li>Eat wild meat when you can </li></ul>

47.
Meat a special occasion food While it’s true that vegetarians are generally healthier than carnivores, that doesn’t mean you need to eliminate meat from Mediterranean Diet. Meat, which humans have been eating and relishing for a very long time is nourishing food. Mediterranean Diet suggest “mostly” plants not only. People who eat meat a couple of times per week are just as healthy as vegetarians . But the average American eats meat as part of two or even three meals a day – and there is evidence that the more meat there is in your diet – red meat in particular – the greater you risk of heart disease and cancer.

48.
Eat animals that have themselves eaten well The diet of the animals we eat strongly influences the nutritional quality, and healthfulness, of the food we get from them, whether it is meat or milk or eggs. This should be self-evident, yet it is a truth routinely overlooked by the industrial food chain in its quest to produce vast quantities of cheap animal protein. That quest has changed the diet of most of our food animals in ways that have often damaged their health and healthfulness. We feed animals a high-energy diet of grain to make them grow quickly, even in the case of ruminants that have evolved to eat grass.

49.
Eat animals that have themselves eaten well But even food animals that can tolerate grain are much healthier when they have access to green plants – and so, it turns out, are their meat and eggs. The food from these animals will contain much healthier types of fat (more omega-3s, less omega-6s) as well as appreciably higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants (For the same reason, meat from wild animals is particularly nutritious).

51.
Eat wild meat when you can Wild animals and fish too are worth adding to your diet when you have the opportunity. Wild game generally has less saturated and more healthy fats than domesticated animals, because most of these wild animals themselves eat a diverse diet of plants rather than grain. Wild meat, is farm, hunt and find roaming in a natural state ( brado) in many regions of Italy. The principal game animals are wild boar ( cinghiale), red deer ( cervo ), roe deer ( capriolo), fallow deer ( daino) , hare (lepre), rabbit ( coniglio selvatico), pheasant ( fagiano)

52.
Wild Boar Wild boar, still roams the wooded areas of north and central Italy and the south, where forage of various kinds and ponds and streams provide it with a congenial habitat. The meat is like rare-breed pork. A typical Tuscan recipe select the loin of a young animal, cut it into chunks, and brown it in olive oil with bay leaves and garlic, then add a glass of white wine and simmer slowly until tender, topping up with wine as needed. This method yields a tender, pale, aromatic meat, gentler than the treatment needed for an older beast. The meat of wild boar, especially in Tuscany, where it is got by hunting is used in cold cuts (salumi) like wild boar ham.